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Korir, Hasay time Hart Bridge moves to win 2017 Gate River Run

Leonard Korir crosses the finish line first in the 2017 Gate River Run in Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday, March 11, 2017. (Gary Lloyd McCullough/For The Florida Times-Union)

Jordan Hasay crosses the finish line, placing first among women, followed by Sam Chelanga, third place among men, in the 2017 Gate River Run. (Gary Lloyd McCullough/For The Florida Times-Union)

Elite men prepare for the start of the 2017 Gate River Run in Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday, March 11, 2017. (Gary Lloyd McCullough/For The Florida Times-Union)

Leonard Korir, first overall and Shadrack Kipchirchir, second place, on right, approach the finish line in the 2017 Gate River Run in Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday, March 11, 2017. (Gary Lloyd McCullough/For The Florida Times-Union)

Coming down the Hart Bridge, Leonard Korir saw Shadrack Kipchirchir from the corner of his eye, and he knew he had to act fast.

“He’s so strong,” Korir said. “Especially doing 400, 200, he kicks so hard. He’s a strong athlete. I was scared that maybe this guy was maybe going to make a big move.”

Korir struck first, and his reward was victory.

U.S. Olympian Korir lunged to the line to edge teammate Kipchirchir by less than a second, becoming the nation’s 15K champion in Saturday’s 40th Gate River Run.

In the women’s race, Jordan Hasay pulled clear of a pack of eight on the Hart Bridge to race to victory in 49:28, further boosting her standing as a rising star in American distance racing.

“On the hill, we were just going really slow, so I thought I might as well take it,” she said.

Six competitors represented the United States at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but the pre-race anticipation of a possible new American record never materialized, thanks in part to shifting winds off the St. Johns River.

But the race - particularly the men’s competition, sometimes full-throttle, sometimes tactical and always closely contested all the way to the line - lived up to its billing.

At the top of it all was Korir, who already won the U.S. cross country championship last month and claimed his third major triumph of 2017 on his first visit to Jacksonville.